Guyanese squash ace Nicolette Fernandes added another South American Games medal to her trophy case on Wednesday night, but after her near- perfect campaign in Asuncion, Paraguay, it wasn’t the accolade most had hoped for.
Much like her semifinal match, the Women’s Singles Squash final saw five sets being contested in entertaining fashion.
Nicolette Fernandes roped in Guyana’s third medal, a silver, at the South American Games
On Tuesday night, Fernandes, who had been faultless in the tournament thus far, had to overcome an early scare during her semifinal match against Maria Paula Moya Lopez of Ecuador.
Fernandes took the first set 12-10, but Lopez rebounded to pick up two back-to-back sets, 11-5, 11-4. The Guyanese then pulled off two consecutive wins of her own, 11-5, 11-4, to claim the game.
As such, Fernandes ensured that she would set up her second face-off of the year with Laura Tovar of Colombia, for a chance to get her hands on the gold medal. Interestingly, Fernandes and Tovar had battled each other earlier this year in the Pan American Games’ final, which the Guyanese won 11-9, 11-4, 11-5.
However, Tovar managed this time to turn the tables on the Guyanese player with a major comeback in the last three sets. Fernandes took control of sets 1 and 2, winning 11-6, 11-7. Tovar then held out to win the next two sets 11-7, 11-7. The final set determined the South American champion, and after a lengthy rally between the two, Tovar won the set 13-11, and by extension the gold medal.
Fernandes’s silver medal adds to Guyana’s tally of two bronze medals at the 2022 Games, won in the discipline of boxing by Keevin Allicock and Desmond Amsterdam on Monday night.
